Are We Ready for EV Racing?

Compelling arguments for—and some against—top-rank EV competition.

In 1-second intervals, the five starting lights go red. Then within 4 to 7 sec. they're extinguished, and all hellacious fury breaks loose as the Formula car grid mixes it up into the first corner. Only this time, the loudest sounds are the crowd's roar, tires scrabbling for traction and the high-pitched whir of electric motors.

Not likely, some say. Inevitable, say others.

Let's look at this from several perspectives—organizational, technical and sporting as well as societal.

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FIA Formula E Championship

In July 2011, the Federation Internationale de l'Automobile posed a "Call for Expressions of Interest and Selection Process" dedicated to a Formula E Championship slated to begin in 2013. The organizer chosen (no later than December 15, 2011) would have a three-year run, 2013–2015, of these competitions specifically for battery electric vehicles.

Fostered by FIA's vision of social responsibility—and, no doubt, its fear of sanctioning buggy-whip sports in the 21st century—this BEV championship is seen as something quite distinct from any current forms of motorsport. Formula E is to engage an entirely new segment of fans, young urbanites potentially already into road-going electric mobility. Sponsorship would come from the electric/energy industry. Cars are to be open-wheel single-seaters with a minimum weight, driver included, of 780 kilograms (1720 lb.), their perform­ance comparable to current FIA Formula 3 levels.

City centers are seen as the potential venues for Formula E events; this, for several reasons. Street races become part of a "happening"; spectators come to party as well as to watch races. Other aspects cited by FIA include a music dimension (for once unhampered by raucous exhaust), "intelligent entertainment" promoting EVs, maybe even support demonstrations by outrageously quick EV dragsters.

Toyota Motorsport Group converted a Radical sports racer into the EV P001. Then the team took it to the Nürburgring and ran an amazing 7:47.8 lap. The car has 375 hp, 590 lb.-ft. of torque and a top speed in excess of 160 mph. Check out the video and decide whether EV race cars are boring!

What's more, given the inherently scant range of BEVs (and the attention span of these new spectators?), in their first iteration the races will be short, around 15 minutes, with plenty of corners and no long battery-sapping straights.

If all this sounds hopelessly Goody-Green-Shoes, please remember that I am merely the messenger here. See the full details here.

On the other hand, the FIA proposal contains some thought-provoking rationale. Younger people are heavily into electronic gaming, and corporate ties with this electrotainment community are foreseen. Interactivity with the fan base is sought through social media. Driver blogs, autograph sessions, live gaming and electronic co-drives are part of this landscape. Even an international driver's search could be incorporated, with an opportunity to win a seat in E Championship competition. Last, the younger age group being chased is seen as generally more environmentally committed than gray-tops such as me.

But Where's the Noise?

Another gray-top (and a rather more influential motorsports spokesman), Bernie Ecclestone, raised a key shortcoming of EV racing. As quoted by the Australian Associated Press, he said: "I think there are two things really important for Formula 1. One is Ferrari and the other is the noise.... It's unbelievable that even more so with women, the ladies love the noise."

Along similar lines, Ecclestone has also come out against the FIA's 2014 proposal of prohibiting internal combustion along F1 pit lanes. No fuel, no spark; the cars will rely on their ERS (the new moniker describing energy recovery systems beyond the kinetic variety that currently exploit only regen braking). Ecclestone feels that the lack of noise along pit lane would be downright dangerous.

Toyota Motorsports Group EV P001

As to the more general issue of noise, race car designer Sergio Rinland, quoted in a recent Race Tech magazine, said: "It would be fascinating to do a poll of 10-year-olds, say. You could ask them how they rate the importance of speed, energy, noise and recyclability, and the results would be very different to the current generation of adults—even those in their 20s."

In the same September 2011 article, Race Tech also cited Dr. Paul Faithfull, technical director of Westfield Sports Cars. (Westfield manufactures the iRacer, a $140,000 BEV race car of Lotus Seven-inspired heritage.) "Tight twisty circuits are going to be the best place for electric racing initially and there's lots of interest in running city center events," said Faithfull. "In that sort of environment you don't need a huge amount of noise."

In fact, many race venues these days have noise limits. Noted Faithful, "It's all about getting the spectator's adrenaline going, and we have the opportunity to start with a clean sheet of paper here."

Note, many extreme sports don't have—nor do they need—heavy sound. Bobsledding, downhill slalom, mountain biking, snowboarding and other gravity sports certainly possess inherent excitement. And, for that matter, the current crop of turbodiesel endurance race cars aren't known for being particularly raucous, either.

On the other hand (warning: gray-top comment ahead), I experimented with this as I watched a televised F1 race, starting as they often do at 0-dark-30 here in U.S. Pacific Time. Even with the sound off, I found the start of the race displaying plenty of fury. As the field stretched out by midrace, though, it was nap time.

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